biberon

Forms

biberon m (plural biberons)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned formation, probably from Ecclesiastical Latin biber (“drink”) with the suffix -on, on the model of words such as aileron and chaperon, rather than from the stem of Classical bibō (“to drink”).^[2][3] Wiktionary likewise starts from the Ecclesiastical Latin word, while Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and Littré derive it from the verb.^{[1][4][5][6][7]} The verb is the source of boire.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1301, cited by Delboulle, in the sense “spout, neck of a vessel”.^[5][4][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “spout of a vessel” went out of use in the 16th century.^[2] By metonymy the word named a small spouted vessel for giving drink to the sick (1514).^[2][3] The Académie recorded “small vessel for drinking lying down” from 1798 to 1878.^[8]

The sense “small bottle with a spout for giving a child drink” is found in 1777 in a specialists' memoir to the Académie des Sciences, and the Académie admitted it in 1835; it became the main sense, and the rubber tétine later replaced the spout.^[2][9] The bottle's contents are also called biberon.^[8][5]

From the 15th century the word was also used figuratively of a person who likes to drink, a familiar sense now dated.^[2][5] A brand of feeding bottles named after the surname Robert gave late 19th-century slang les roberts “breasts”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1301 – First recorded, as “spout”.^[5][4]
• 15th century – Used of a person who likes to drink.^[2][5]
• 1514 – A small spouted vessel for the sick.^[2][3]
• 1777 – A memoir to the Académie des Sciences uses it for a child's feeding bottle.^[2][9]
• 1835 – The Académie admits the sense “feeding bottle”.^[2]
• 1837 – The derived verb biberonner “to drink a lot” appears.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A baby's bottle, a graduated bottle fitted with a teat for feeding infants;^[9][8][1] nourrir un enfant au biberon is to bottle-feed it rather than breastfeed.^[9][8][1]
2. The contents of such a bottle: il a fini son biberon.^[9][5]
3. (dated) A small spouted vessel for giving drink to someone lying down.^[8][5]
4. Prendre quelqu'un au biberon (familiar): to take someone on at an excessively young age.^[9][5]

Word family

• biberonner

Related words

• boire
• bibine
• Latin bibō

Usage notes

Littré gives a separate headword biberon, onne “one who likes wine”, quoting Basselin in the 15th century (un venerable biberon); the GLLF also lists it apart, but Rey treats it as a figurative sense of the same word.^[6][5][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 350a
8. ^ a b c d e Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert